LANSING - Michigan spent about $1.5 billion on road and bridge construction projects in 2006 and will spend about $1.62 billion this year - but annual expenditures - are expected to dip to about $1.22 billion in 2011.

Those are the monetary highlights of the Michigan Department of Transportation's "Five-Year Transportation Program, 2007-2011," that was officially released in January.

Over the last few years, MDOT has been issuing five-year plans to monitor its progress on work that's planned, in progress and completed, as well as anticipated funding levels. Funding is dependent on a number of variables, including state gasoline tax revenues, fewer gas-guzzling vehicles on the roads, federal allotments, and the Michigan budget.

"The Five Year Transportation Program represents a year-long, multi-stage process that involves many partners," said MDOT Director Kirk Steudle. "Each year, as the previous year is completed, a new fifth year is added with updates and adjustments to projects and programs in the other years. The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) considers the Five-Year Transportation Program to be a living document that allows us to take advantage of new opportunities as well as to manage and mitigate situations that were unknown or unclear the previous year."

Spending - and road quality - are expected to drop in the latter years of the five-year plan when funding boosts provided by Gov. Jennifer Granholm's Jobs Today and Preserve First initiatives fall off the budget. Granholm introduced the Jobs Today program to accelerate funding and jobs into MDOT's work plan.

According to the plan:

• Michigan will "substantially" achieve the State Transportation Commission's 1997 system preservation goal of 90 percent of state roads and bridges in good condition by 2007 and 2008.
• The governor's Preserve First program, put into place in 2003, placed an emphasis on preserving roads rather than building new. The program ends in 2008.
• The Fiscal Year 2007-2011 Five Year Transportation Program investments for the highway program total $6.63 billion. This total reflects investments for the major program categories of preservation, capacity improvement and new roads, and routine maintenance.
• The state's "Local Jobs Today" program is in place from 2006 through 2007. Money in this program is being used to jump-start 210 local road projects around the state, creating nearly 5,000 jobs. This program allows localities in obtain grants from the state in order to win matching funds from the federal government to move construction projects along.
• The University of Michigan has completed preliminary findings for MDOT's 2007-2011 road and bridge system investments, and it estimated that these investments will support 24,400 jobs in 2007. That's about a quarter of the entire unionized construction workforce in Michigan.
• Michigan Construction News.com reported on a Feb. 1 conference sponsored by MDOT and the American Council of Engineering Companies/Michigan. It was revealed that unless more funding is put into the system, Michigan's roads that are rated in good condition will decline to 77 percent in 2011.

Michael Nystrom vice president of government and public relations at the Michigan Infrastructure & Transportation Association, told the conference that since Michigan's gasoline tax was last increased in 1997, its purchasing power has declined 20.5 percent. In addition, Michigan's tax of 19¢ per gallon is also among the lowest in the Midwest. Minnesota has a 20¢ tax, Ohio is 28¢, Wisconsin is 30¢, and Pennsylvania is 32.3¢. Only Indiana is lower, at 18¢.